The occurrence of major coronary events was increased among women with preeclampsia and highest for preeclampsia combined with a child born small for gestational age and/or preterm delivery.

peer reviewed

Trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder [HPD]) is a common disorder affecting mostly women that is often underreported and underrecognized. This condition involves repetitive hair pulling resulting in hair loss with repeated unsuccessful attempts to control or stop the pulling behavior. Individuals usually attempt to conceal or camouflage the hair loss. Clinical phenomenology, neurobiology, and genetic underpinning suggest associations between obsessive-compulsive disorder and HPD. This review contains 1 table, and 19 references. Key words: hair loss, hair pulling, obsessive-compulsive and related disorder, trichotillomania

We sought to identify cognitive-motivational dispositions for addictiveness in females with different addictions. For this purpose we assessed 20 women with substance use disorders (SUDs), 19 women who were routinely smoking at least 10 cigarettes daily for several years, and 24 control women. Cognitive-motivational dispositions were assessed with the 108-item Cognitive Orientation of Addictive Tendencies Questionnaire (COAT-Q), that converges to 25 content-related motivational themes and four basic belief types. Anxiety, depression, and addictiveness were also assessed. We found that compared with the controls, the SUD patients scored higher on addictiveness, depression, anxiety, all four COAT-Q-beliefs types, and three COAT-Q-theme clusters: dissociation from the self and from contacts with others, rejecting bad parts of the self, and the coexistent wish and fear of being loved. The chronic smokers scored mostly in-between the SUD patients and controls. These findings suggest that specific cognitive motivational dispositions may orient towards addictive behaviours in SUDs and chronic smoking.

PET/MR SUV/L peak has a clinically acceptable repeatability performance and can be used to evaluate the response to treatment.

<i>Background:</i> The epidemiology of DSM-IV intermittent explosive disorder (IED) is not well characterized in developing country settings. In South Africa, given the high rates of violence and trauma, there is particular interest in traumatic exposures as potential risk factors for IED. <i>Methods:</i> We examined the prevalence and predictors of IED in a nationally representative sample of 4,351 South African adults. IED and other diagnoses based on DSM-IV criteria were assessed using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). A 28-item scale was constructed to measure exposure to traumatic events. <i>Results:</i> Overall, 2.0% of participants (95% CI: 0–4.9%) fulfilled criteria for the narrow definition of IED, and 9.5% (95% CI: 6.6–12.3%) fulfilled criteria for the broad definition of IED. Individuals with IED experienced high rates of comorbid anxiety, mood and substance use disorders compared to non-IED participants. In multivariate analysis, a diagnosis of IED was associated with Caucasian and mixed-race ethnicity, psychiatric comorbidity and exposure to multiple traumatic events. <i>Conclusion:</i> These data suggest a relatively high prevalence of IED in South Africa. By reducing violence and trauma, and by providing appropriate psychological support to trauma survivors, we may be able to reduce rates of IED.

The World Mental Health survey findings advance understanding of the extent to which PTSD risk varies with the type of TE and history of TE exposure. Previous findings about the elevated PTSD risk associated with TEs involving assaultive violence was refined by showing agreement only for repeated occurrences. Some types of prior TE exposures are associated with increased resilience rather than increased vulnerability, connecting the literature on TE history with the literature on resilience after adversity. These results are valuable in providing an empirical rationale for more focused investigations of these specifications in future studies.

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ABSTRACT There is evidence of testosterone having deteriorating effects on cognitive and affective empathy. However, whether testosterone influences core affective empathy, that is empathy for pain, has not yet been investigated. Therefore, we tested neural responses to witnessing others in pain in a within-subject placebo controlled testosterone administration study. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging we provide affirming evidence that the empathy inducing paradigm causes changes in the activity throughout the pain circuitry, including the bilateral insula and anterior cingulate cortex. Administration of testosterone however did not influence these activation patterns in the pain matrix. Testosterone has thus downregulating effects on aspects of empathic behaviour, but based on these data does not seem to influence neural responses during core empathy for pain. This finding gives more insight into the role of testosterone in human empathy.